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Lizard (Marvel)
The Lizard is a monstrous reptilian supervillain from Marvel Comics, most commonly opposing Spider-Man and the X-Men. He was once a biologist named Curtis Connors who studied lizards, in search of creating a serum that could regrow his missing right arm. When he was successfully able to create the serum, he injected himself with it. The serum granted him his arm back, but at the cost of transforming him into a reptilian monster that would become one of Spider-Man's most dangerous adversaries. Personality Prior to his transformation, Connors was a humble and respectful man towards his students, particularly Peter who in turn respected him and had always looked up to him. This would soon change, however, when he injected himself with lizard DNA. Upon transforming into the Lizard himself, he became an uncontrollable monster. In his Lizard persona, he wants to create an army of super-reptiles and take over the world by destroying all mammals, including humans. Much like the Hulk, Lizard's intelligence has varied, as sometimes he retains Connors' brilliant intellect, and is able to perform scientific experiments as the Lizard. Ever since his transformation, Connors has incresingly become more unstable and frightened of turning back into the monster he truly is now. History Created by Stan Lee and the late Steve Ditko, Dr. Curtis "Curt" Connors was a biologist who was one of Peter Parker's college professors. Connors had previously served as an army surgeon, during which time his right arm suffered severe injury from an explosion, forcing it to be amputated. Following the completion of his tour of duty, Connors became obsessed with regaining his missing arm, dedicating his research to finding a way to accomplish this goal. Knowing their abilities of regenerating missing limbs, Connors began to focus his research on lizards, creating a serum from reptillian DNA. Test results were promising, successfully regrowing the missing limb of a rabbit, so Connors injected himself with the serum, regrowing his arm as he had hoped. However, the serum had a horrific aide effect; it then began to transform him into a ferocious and bloodthirsty lizard monster. Spider-Man was able to create an antidote for the serum, restoring Connors back to his regular form; unfortunately, traces of the serum within his bloodstream would cause the Lizard to resurface whenever Connors suffered from extreme stress or was exposed to some kind of chemical reaction. A vicious cycle ensued, in which Connors would transform into the Lizard, Spider-Man would fight and defeat him, and then inject him with a temporary cure until Connors transformed again. Recently, the Lizard killed Dr. Connors' son Billy, which caused Connors to finally snap. His Lizard persona is now in complete control, and continues in his quest for the extinction of humans. As part of an effort to return to his old life, the Lizard approached the Empire State University, and singed over dozens of his patents as an incentive so that they would let him become a member of the faculty staff again. After being given this second chance, Connors and E.S.U. developed a surgically embedded, Adamantium-encased inhibitor chip which enabled him to return to his human form and control his transformations into the Lizard. The chip would additionally paralyze him if he became aggressive while in his reptilian form. After Peter Parker's academic credentials were revoked for plagiarism, since he had completed his studies while Doctor Octopus was in possession of his body and had used his own work as a basis for Parker's thesis, Connors vouched for Peter, and convinced the faculty to give him another chance and join his class. Connors is captured by Taskmaster Kraven the Hunter as part of his organized hunt for various animal-themed villains In order to save his son he searching his son in his cell it empty cell he encounter Kraven son and fight Kraven son knows that Lizards the one kill Billy Connors that not use to be he have chip on his spine to control it Kraven son laughing at him call him a weak one and decide to drag him force to watch when going to kill Billy. He is locked in a cell with Spider-Man while the two watch live footage of Black Cat and the Lizard-esque Billy Connors being hunted, with Billy admitting that he actually remembers his original death (Connors also reveals that he had visited Doctor Strange to confirm that Billy was actually his son reborn in the cloned body created by the Jackal, even if Strange cannot explain this event). Faced with a threat to his son, Connors asks Spider-Man to tear out the inhibitor chip so that he can rescue his son despite the risk of this action leaving Connors paralysed at best, the two unaware that Kraven set the situation up precisely to force Spider-Man to a position where he would be the ruthless warrior Kraven believes he should be. However, Connors manages to maintain control and retrieve Billy without killing anyone and succeeded saving Billy and Black Cat. Powers and Abilities Before his transformation, Connors had no special abilities of his own other than his genius intellect and his knowledge on biology, particularly lizards. When he became the Lizard, he gained a variety of powers and abilities which consist of bulletproof scaly skin, wall-crawling abilities, superhuman strength, agility, durability, and the power to telepathically control any reptile within a two mile radius of him. bring out the "primitive" part of a victim's brain and make them go into an animal-like state of mind; cowering, running, and acting like hunted prey. One of the only ways that Spider-Man can defeat the Lizard is by forcibly giving him a "gene cleanser" antidote, which transforms him back into a human. But even the antidote can never erase the Lizard from the good doctor's subconscious forever, and under times of great stress, the monster would come out again. In other media Television * Lizard appeared in the 1967 Spider-Man animated series. This version is referred to as Dr. Curt Conner. Depicted as having both of his arms in the episode "Where Crawls the Lizard", his serum is intended to cure 'swamp fever'. Conner later appears in the episode "Fountain of Terror" where he finds the Fountain of Youth and ends up held prisoner by someone that looks like Juan Ponce de León before Spider-Man appears and the Fountain of Youth is accidentally destroyed. Spider-Man manages to rescue him after defeating Harley Clivendon. In the episode "Conner's Reptiles", Lizard appears again. This time, it is not Conner but one of his experimental alligators with increased intelligence that abducted him. The episode uses footage from "Where Crawls the Lizard", just changing the order of scenes and the voices. * Lizard appeared in the 1981 Spider-Man animated series. This version is presented as a monster-villain with no mention of Curt Connors. In the episode "Lizards, Lizards, Everywhere", he ends up springing every reptile from the zoo in order to make Manhattan a reptile paradise. The Lizard is defeated by Spider-Man, leaving him webbed up in an empty zoo cage. Spider-Man: The Animated Series * Curt Connors/Lizard appeared in Spider-Man: The Animated Series. This version was portrayed as possessing a genius-level intellect but also having the savage mindset from the comics. In his first appearance in the episode "Night of the Lizard", Dr. Connors transforms into the Lizard after using himself as a test subject with lizard DNA to regenerate his right arm. He then abducts his wife Margaret Connors and carried Margaret into the sewers in order to help complete his plan to turn New York into lizards, but he was defeated by Spider-Man and returned to his human form. Curt had many other appearances throughout this series as a supporting character. In the episodes "Tablet of Time" and "The Ravages of Time", Connors turned into the Lizard again during the point when Silvermane obtained the Tablet of Time. In the episode "The Final Nightmare", Connors objected to Farley Stillwell's destruction on the database, as he needs it for a cure at the time when Spider-Man was fighting Scorpion and Vulture. When Stillwell asks what cure, Connors turns into the Lizard and attacks Farley only to be knocked down by Spider-Man. In the episode "The Lizard King", some of Connors's chemicals mutated some sewer lizards into humanoid lizards that plot to abduct Connors. When Connors turns again, they make the Lizard their king, causing Margaret and Mary Jane Watson to turn to Debra Whitman to help create a cure. Mutated Lizard Gila did not want to go by the Lizard Men's goals anymore and was able to set off the device, restoring the Lizard and the Lizard Men to their true forms. In the three-part episode "Secret Wars", the Beyonder abducted the Lizard as one of the villains to be placed on a peaceful alien planet. When Spider-Man assembled the Fantastic Four, Captain America, Iron Man and Storm, the Lizard attacked the base and was repelled only for the Lizard to be attacked by the local giant sandworms. When the Lizard was rendered unconscious by the attack and the base was re-powered by Storm's lightning, Iron Man and Mister Fantastic managed to use a machine to activate the dormant part of Lizard's mind, enabling his human part of the mind to be awakened. Spider-Man: The New Animated Series * Curt Connors/Lizard appears in Spider-Man: The New Animated Series. This version is more serious and colder than other versions, and lost his right arm as a result from a testing accident due to the Wide Area Explosive Fragmentation Round (WAFER), Oscorp Industries' weapon. Lizard's physical appearance is much more animalistic and saurian than the comic book version. Dr. Connors is still bitter over the loss of his right arm. When he transforms, the Lizard becomes aggressive and feral but maintains his ability to talk, at least when his serum is lowered. He goes to Oscorp out of proxy-revenge. During a battle with Spider-Man, the Lizard's arm is again cut off. At one point, Spider-Man dangles the Lizard from a web while attached to a helicopter. Spider-Man tries to reason with him but the Lizard strikes out, cutting the web and causing the reptilian menace to fall to his apparent death. The Spectacular Spider-Man The Lizard has appeared in several Spider-Man TV shows and video games. His alter-ego, Dr. Conners, appeared briefly in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3, played by Dylan Baker. It was planned that he would become the Lizard in Spider-Man 4, before it was canceled. In Spider-Man: The Animated Series, he was voiced by the late Joseph Campanella. Ultimate Spider-Man * Curt Connors/Lizard appears in the Ultimate Spider-Man television series. This version of Dr. Connors is a S.H.I.E.L.D. scientist and is introduced with both of his arms until season one's finale where his right arm is severely damaged (and later has to be amputated) because of the Green Goblin's attack on the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. The Lizard appears in the season two. In his self-titled episode "The Lizard", Connors and Spider-Man investigate Doctor Octopus's various animal DNA formulas (examples being lizard DNA, rhinoceros DNA, scorpion DNA and vulture DNA). Fascinated by their potential medical benefits, Connors injects himself with the lizard DNA in order to save Spider-Man from an Octobot. The first dose restores his right arm (albeit covered in green scales) but later doses eventually turn himself into the Lizard. As he gets less intelligent and more aggressive, the Lizard goes in search of Doctor Octopus for more formula with Spider-Man following him. After fighting both Doctor Octopus and the Lizard, Spider-Man uses Doctor Octopus's technology to make an antidote which successfully makes the Lizard human again. But in the episode "The Sinister Six", Doctor Octopus abducts Connors and forcefully turns him into the Lizard and controlled with a device planted on the back of his neck to be a member of the Sinister Six along with Electro, Kraven the Hunter, Rhino and Beetle. When the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trainees defeat the Sinister Six, the Lizard evades capture after breaking free from Doctor Octopus's device and escapes into the sewers. The Lizard later appears in the episode "Stan By Me". He steals equipment from Midtown High School when Phil Coulson, Mary Jane Watson and Harry Osborn happen to be nearby, leading to a showdown with Spider-Man and Stan the Janitor. The machine that the Lizard built enabled him to keep his human side dormant. The Lizard succeeds in rendering his human side dormant and escapes after being repelled by Spider-Man, Coulson, the students and Stan the Janitor. In season two's two-part finale, the character has a central role. The Lizard sports an armored attire thanks to stolen OsCorp technology. In the sewers, The Lizard fights Spider-Man and Iron Patriot. After the Lizard ends up fleeing, Spider-Man and Iron Patriot discover an antidote recipe that Lizard wrote. On Ryker's Island, the Lizard later accompanies Doctor Octopus, Electro, Kraven, Rhino and Scorpion as an armored Sinister Six that attacks Spider-Man. When the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trainees and Iron Patriot fight the Sinister Six, Spider-Man fights the Lizard within Ryker's Island and tries to get through to him. Eventually, Spider-Man successfully restores Connors, and he thanks Spider-Man for restoring him to normal. Afterwards, Connors (via Coulson) supplies Spider-Man with an antidote for the Goblin. After Spider-Man restores the S.H.I.E.L.D. Trainees with Conners's antidote and then defeats the Goblin, Connors determines that it'll take some time to revert the Goblin back to a human. The character makes minor appearances in Ultimate Spider-Man: Web Warriors; Connors provides Spider-Man with symbiote containment devices and discovers Flash Thompson is the Venom parasite's permanent host (in the episode "Agent Venom") and tried to revert Rhino back to a human (in the episode "Rampaging Rhino") while Lizard made cameo appearances in occasional cutaway scenes. The Lizard returns in Ultimate Spider-Man vs. The Sinister Six while Curt Connors remains a background character. In the episode "Lizards", Doctor Octopus's spy injects Connors with the lizard serum when Spider-Man is in charge of S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy. While trying to cure himself, he gets turned into the Lizard in front of Spider-Man's group. This time, the Lizard has a bite that turns anyone that is bitten into Lizards as well. Using an atmospheric device in the lab of Leo Fitz and Jemma Simmons, Spider-Man was able to distribute the remaining lizard serum cure through the ventilation, which cured everyone. Connors also provides Iron Patriot of Harry's status after the Anti-Venom fight (in "Anti-Venom"), provides Spider-Man the key of his anti-HYDRA device (in "The New Sinister Six" 1), and provided a mixed report on Flash's and Venom's recovery (in "Symbiote Saga" 1). The episode "Return to the Spider-Verse" Pt. 1 featured an alternate version that lives on a vampire-infested world where he is also a vampire known as the Lizard King. With Blood Spider being the only opposition, the Lizard King collaborated with the Wolf Spider in a plot to obtain a Siege Perilous fragment to block out the sun so that vampires can rule the Earth. However, Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid combined Blood Spider's cured blood sample with the Siege Perilous piece and a UV Light which was used to cure everyone. While the Lizard King was regressed back to his human form, Wolf Spider claimed the fragment that Spider-Man and Kid Arachnid was looking for causing three Spiders to move on to the next reality. * Lizard appears in the 2010s Spider-Man animated. This version of Curt Connors is depicted as a scientist working for Oscorp. In the episode "The Rise of Doc Ock" Pt. 2, Connors comes across Oscorp's project that involves regrowing arms with reptilian DNA. When he takes an unimproved sample to use to regrow his lost arm, it turns him into Lizard where he targets Norman Osborn. After Lizard is subdued at Oscorp, Norman Osborn is secretly behind the cure as he wants to manipulate events to get Otto Octavius on his side. When Lizard "breaks free" and Otto Octavius uses a formula with tainted data on Lizard, it turns Lizard into a giant lizard monster. Upon isolating the DNA sample, Spider-Man and Spider-Man II were able to come up with a cure to use on the weak part of Lizard's head to restore him to normal. Films Video Games According to Bill Rosemann at twitter, the variant cover that Giuseppe Camuncoli drew for the comic book adaptation, ''Marvel's Spider-Man: City at War'' #1 displaying Spider-Man fighting the Lizard, is canon to the game. Trivia *Dylan Baker plays Curt Connors in the Sam Raimi trilogy, appearing in Spider-Man 2 and Spider-Man 3 (the character was also mentioned in the first film). He was considered to become the Lizard in the fourth film until it was cancelled in favor for a reboot. However in the Spider-Man 3 videogame, Curt does become the Lizard and is a boss. *Lizard was ranked #9 on a listing of Marvel Comics' monster characters in 2015. 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